Former UW Genetics Professor Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements in Grant Progress Report

June 28, 2010 - MADISON, WI—Stephen P. Sinnott, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Elizabeth B. Goodwin, Ph.D., Upton, Massachusetts pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to fraudulently submitting a grant progress report containing falsified data that misrepresented the progress of genetic research at a University of Wisconsin-Madison lab that Goodwin directed. Specifically, Goodwin admitted today that she included manipulated data in the progress report an effort to convince reviewers that more scientific progress had been made with her research than was actually the case. Sentencing is scheduled for September 3, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. She faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Goodwin was an Associate Professor at the UW-Madison Laboratory of Genetics from 2000 until her resignation on February 23, 2006. In her plea agreement, Goodwin admitted that her conduct constituted "misconduct in science." Further, Goodwin has agreed to be voluntarily excluded for three years from involvement in federal government research and will pay $50,000 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This charge followed an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—Office of Inspector General, with the full cooperation of the University of Wisconsin. Prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O'Shea.